In this first-person story, Thom Haller, (teacher, artist, user-advocate) illustrates his
journey into a labels and back out again.

Into labels

Raised in southern north central West Virginia (up the road a piece from Flatwoods, the
geographic center of the state), Thom learned you are your occupation and assumed he’d awaken someday and know
instinctively what he would do with the rest of his life.

But there was a problem. The labels offered didn’t fit. And labels others gave him
dampened his spirit and left him feeling grumpy, believing he didn’t belong.

Into Washington

Thom's pursuit of the question of "“What do I want to be when I grow up?" pushed him
toward Washington DC where he joined thousands of others working as beltway bandits (Federal contractors).
Thom, passionate about life and possibility, found himself working in a mauve cubicle inside a poorly-constructed
post-modern monstrosity on land fill at the edge of the Federal City. Something was not making sense!

Out of cubicle, labels, and fear

Thom wanted a job that was true to his spirit. He wanted to use his time to support others.
As work offers only “gray” opportunities, Thom must choose. Will he pick lifework outside the cubicle? Or will
he answer yes to the question "would you like to work for Norm?"

Thom doesn't want to work for Norm. Instead, he delves into an emerging field. With an
emerging label. This works for awhile. Then others use the label as well and Thom comes to a reckoning. How can
he respect the power of labels, but step beyond the boxes we create in our own lives?

Do you want to book a presentation that doesn’t leave you snoring?

Want to watch a story unfold and then see how it applies to your own life?

The story delights people who appreciate personal journey narrative and people who like a
style of writing that comes from listening to others, offering a unique and inspiring voice.

The story enthralls people who want to know you can put faith in ideas, listen to your heart,
and follow your dreams. These people have, on occassion, struggled with a brain that would not
cooperate; they have wanted to find passion in their work; they wanted to have faith in their
ideas and just hear some good stories of possibility.

Audiences love hearing a funny story from a balding, gay, middle-aged West Virginia-native
who has a motto he found on a fortune cookie: “Never consider yourself a failure, you can
always serve as a bad example.